Clarence Richards
'''Clarence Richards '''is the main protagonist of "My Pursuit of Spike and Mike". He is a 20-year-old college student at the University of Johannesburg. He lives in a rented house with his roommate, Nat O'Toole. He lives there so he can keep his two rabbits, Spike & Mike, because dorms do not allow pets. His picture on his door shows him with a beard like Ulysses Simpson Grant's, but when he first appears "in person", he doesn't have it, as he has shaved prior to the events of this story. He was born on October 8, 1990. He is first seen returning to his rented house from class when he catches Nat teasing Spike and Mike and scolds him for it, as Nat had been banned from even touching them. So Clarence doesn't trust him to do anything with them and forbids him to share his room anymore. He doesn't even give in to Nat's threatening to turn him in for having pets or to blame him for him wetting his own pants. As soon as Clarence comes home from shopping for rabbit food pellets, he finds his room in a mess, causing another argument with Nat (during which, they don't know that Omni Hart is spying for Ethel Morgan), and Clarence is forced by Nat to clean up his mess after him, and their friendship ends. Now, in the park, trying to calm himself down, Clarence meets an 8-year-old orphan girl named Marge Patterson, who has run away from the O'Toole orphanage. After finding out why Marge has run away, he invites and takes her to his house, only to find Nat doing the exact thing he was forbidden to do: teasing Spike and Mike. He only changes his mind about letting Nat (who doesn't like having young girls around) share his room on the conditions that he neither tease the rabbits nor make life harder for Marge nor threaten offensive poetry, otherwise he'll be banished. At dinner time, Clarence serves macaroni and cheese and steamed carrots to Nat and Marge. He tells Nat that if he sees Marge looking hurt, he will make him feel as the former felt when the latter kept blaming him for his messes. Later, he serves a blondie to himself and Marge, takes her clothes-shopping, and watch TV until it's bedtime. He tucks Marge into the sofa-bed and goes to feed his rabbits before he goes to bed. Meanwhile, two fraternal twin brothers, Nehemiah & Vernon Morgan, the younger brothers of their boss, Ethel Morgan, break in to abduct Spike and Mike. As Clarence hears the noise, he finds out what is going on. He tries to stop them, but they pull the cages away from him and let him run into the wall. After Marge is woken up and told to go back to bed (after the rabbits are already abducted), Clarence sleeps on the floor for the rest of the night. The next morning, he and Marge set off to leave, and only lets Nat (who catches up to him later) go if he neither blackmails nor threatens upsetting poetry. He introduces Marge to other students as they are looking for his rabbits. Later, he and his friends climb the stairs to the top floor because the elevator is broken. When Omni finds them and threatens to lock them up forever, Clarence kicks him down the stairs. Next, he and his friends push Nehemiah and Vernon down (for abducting the rabbits). He later confronts Ethel for having those rabbits abducted and for her inhumane actions toward the white rabbits. He gets shocked when he finds out that the reason Mrs. O'Toole was treating Marge (and the other orphans) unkindly was because of Ethel. As he, Nat and Marge are hiding in a closet, Clarence calls Marsha Marshall and other students to enlist them for help. Then he has called the orphanage and convinced Mrs. O'Toole to repent of her mistreatment to orphans. He then decides he has to take Marge back after the rescue is over. He actually wants to marry someone and adopt Marge, but he feels that he'll be accused of kidnapping her (and he didn't have permission). Later, while he and Nat are helping Marge, she gets a flashlight down a shelf, and she gives Clarence the flashlight. Using the flashlight, our heroes look into each room until they find the room where the rabbits are locked up. Clarence and Marge then push buttons to open the cages, and Clarence finally gets Spike and Mike back (in their original cages). Just as he and Nat are closing the cages back up (after the rabbits are all free), Ethel comes in and threatens to throw Clarence out the window, but Marge saves him. Later, after Marsha gets her rabbit, Catherin, back, Clarence has all of those rabbits (including Spike and Mike) hop all over Ethel when she grabs Marge by the hair, making her let her go. Clarence then shines a light at her, backing her up and making her fall through the clouds. Later, after bringing Spike and Mike back home, Clarence later gets permission from Mrs. O'Toole to adopt Marge. He then marries Marsha and this results in the family having three rabbits: Spike, Mike and Catherin. Category:Characters Category:My Pursuit of Spike and Mike Characters Category:Heroes Category:Protagonists Category:Fathers